Fast & Furious 6 put the pedal to the metal this weekend past and achieved the second biggest opening weekend of the year, with an impressive £8.7m, this is over £3m more than the opening weekend of the 2009 Fast Five release from Universal Pictures.
Star Trek Into Darkness has boldly gone where the previous Star Trek movie also went, to the top of the UK box office. An £8.4m opening, including £1.6m from previews, isn’t quite a warp speed start but it’s still significantly higher than the last Star Trek’s £6m three day start. The £6.8m Friday to Sunday weekend is the highest for any Star Trek film and the third highest of the year so far, behind Iron Man 3 and Les Misérables. The majority (59.5%) of Star Trek Into Darkness’ gross was from 3D presentations, which is higher than Iron Man 3 (53.3%).
Once again, the leviathan that is Iron Man 3 dominated the weekend’s box office, amassing a further £6.3m from Friday to Sunday. Including Bank Holiday Monday, the Marvel blockbuster has a sensational cume of £26.2m. This performance is more akin to Avengers Assemble than any previous Iron Man film, which on its second weekend in May 2012 grossed £8.1m.
The box office received a Stark boost this weekend as Iron Man 3 rocketed to the top of the box office. The Marvel blockbuster opened with a mammoth £13.7m, including £2.3m from Thursday previews. That’s by far the biggest opening for an Iron Man film, the first instalment opened with £5.5m and Iron Man 2 with £7.7m. It’s getting into Avengers Assemble territory, which opened with £15.8m (including £2.5m from previews) almost exactly a year ago. It’s also the 18th best opening of all time in the UK.
Olympus Has Fallen has risen to the top of the Box Office with a decent £2.2m opening (including £651k from previews). The first of the year’s White House set action films has set a solid benchmark which September’s White House Down will be looking to beat. It was the best opening for a live-action Gerard Butler film since 300 in 2007 (£4.7m).
Tom Cruise is back on top as Oblivion flew to an impressive £5m five day opening, with £1.6m coming from Wednesday and Thursday previews. This is further confirmation that audiences still love to see Tom Cruise headlining major films.
The Croods had yet another strong hold, falling just a measly 15% to £2m and a spectacular cume of £22.7m. By this time next week it should have overtaken Wreck-It Ralph to become the highest grossing animated film of the year so far. In third spot, is the fifth installment in the Scary Movie franchise. An opening of £1.1m is the lowest in the series and a long way off from Scary Movie 3’s series best £3.5m debut.
For the third weekend in succession, animated hit The Croods proved to be cinema’s biggest draw. A further £2.4m takes its cume to £17.7m and it now sits behind Les Misérables and Wreck-It Ralph 3D as the third highest grossing film released so far this year. With another week of the Easter holidays left, £20m-plus is a certainty.
GI Joe: Retaliation 3D held on to the second spot with £1.1m and has a cume of £5.6m. It’s now less than £1m behind the first G.I. Joe’s final total of £6.5m, which it should have overtaken by this time next week.
The Croods was the big Easter winner, easing just 6% (when previews are removed) to £3.3m and a very healthy ten day total of £10.6m. This is ahead of the animation benchmark set by Brave 3D last year.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation 3D was the best performing newcomer, easily outstripping the first GI Joe film with £2.8m (including £890k from previews).
The Croods 3D proved a prehistoric sized hit this weekend opening with a sizeable £5.4m (including £1.9m from previews). The Friday to Sunday total of £3.5m puts it just behind Oz: The Great And Powerful in fourth place in the biggest opening weekends of the year. 44.9% of The Croods’ gross came from 3D presentations.
Another big family film opened in second spot as fantasy epic, Jack The Giant Slayer 3D debuted with £1.6m. Although that’s a disappointing start, the upcoming Easter holidays should provide a boost. Oz: The Great And Powerful 3D made it a trio of family films in the top three as a further £1.3m took its cume to £10.1m.
Oz: The Great And Powerful 3D had a solid hold at the top of the box office, easing just 30% to £2.6m and a cume of £7.7m. Alice In Wonderland also experienced a decline of 30% on its second weekend. A solid hold suggests strong word of mouth for Oz and bodes well for the coming weeks.
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